Let us return to an earlier time in the brand’s history. A time of change and reinvention: The year 2000. The 20th Century had come to an end with the dawn of a new millennium. The Beast Wars cartoon had ended one year prior, with the new sequel series Beast Machines on its way to air on Fox Kids’s Saturday morning block (on U.S. television, that is). On the other side of the Pacific, Japan had likewise finished its run of four Beast Wars series (Beast Wars, Beast Wars Second, Beast Wars Neo, and Beast Wars Metals) and was heading into the 21st Century with its next series.

However, as the Western World was getting into the Beast Machines cartoon and toyline, Japan took a different route with the Transformers in creating yet another Japanese-original franchise, the third of its kind after Beast Wars Second and Beast Wars Neo. Instead of Beast Machines, Japan got what was regarded as the first official “rebooted” Transformers series that seemingly bore no inherent ties to any previous fiction (save for some incredibly minor elements that would later help in melding it into the larger Japanese G1 cartoon continuity when it was later retconned in 2007, but I digress). This series was Transformers: Car Robots.

By the year 2001, Beast Machines had concluded its run in the West, and Car Robots had ended in Japan as well. By this point, Hasbro and Takara had chosen to end the Beast Era and work more closely together in creating the next Transformers series as a joint-venture between the two, which eventually came about as Transformers: Armada (or Chō Robot Seimeitai Transformers: Micron Densetsu in Japan). But, as Armada wasn’t to be ready until 2002, Hasbro needed at least a year’s worth of Transformers product to fill the gap in the meantime. Thus, it was decided to port the Car Robots toyline and anime over to the West, rebranded as Transformers: Robots in Disguise.

As a Japanese creation, the Car Robots anime was the first Transformers anime series to be officially dubbed into English for American audiences. Around this time, the anime boom was in full effect with several television blocks, including the aforementioned Fox Kids, airing children’s anime of all kinds. One of the companies behind the Fox Kids block was Saban Entertainment, famed back then for such works as the first ten Power Rangers series and the English dubs of the first three Digimon anime series.

With their ties to Fox Kids, who had been a home to both Beast Wars and Beast Machines, Saban was the natural choice to dub the new Robots in Disguise cartoon into English. And like with their work on the Digimon series, Saban retained the common anime aspect of characters vocally calling out the names of their attacks and transformations while performing them. However, as decent a job as Saban had done at adapting the show for the English-speaking markets, the Robots in Disguise dub unfortunately contained the same level of terminology inconsistency that was commonplace among many less-than-accurate anime dubs from back then, including with other Saban-dubbed anime.

Provided for you today is a lengthy, thorough, as-close-to-complete-as-possible reference guide documenting all of the terms and phrases that the English Robots in Disguise dub used to refer to all of the transformations and techniques used by every Transformer character in that series, while also citing which episode(s) each was used in. This is something that, to my knowledge, has never been done before, and can be of aid to anyone wishing to figure out what the proper English terms/phrases for each character’s transformations and/or techniques from that series ought to be.

Also included are the Japanese names of the techniques as they were presented in the original Car Robots version, along with some of the more diverse Japanese transformation calls in the cases where more than one term or phrase was used in different episodes to refer to the same transformation, such as Fire Convoy’s (Optimus Prime’s) transformation into Super Fire Convoy (Optimus’s Battle Mode). Otherwise, most everyone transformed in the Japanese version with the cry of “Transform!”, “Henshin!”, or “Beast Mode!”, with or without first saying their names, and with the latter two only applying to the five Destrongers who bore the Beast Wars Predacon insignia and had animal-based altmodes. Or, they'd sometimes transform without saying anything at all.

All of the Japanese terms and phrases are presented in parentheses. Note that some terms were created purely by the English dub, while others from the Japanese version went unnamed in the English version.

Spychanger ninja arts (“Cybertron Ninpō”)* Hot Shot: “A little Hypothermic Nuclear Cocktail.” (episode 9) -- The English dub ignored the original Japanese version’s notion of the Spychangers being ninja, and instead had Hot Shot refer not to his team’s ninja arts but to what his team was going to “give” Megatron with the Sphere Formation’s attack.

Vehicle Mode Spychangers trench digging (“Cybertron Ninpō • Jūryoku Cutter”)* Hot Shot: “Inferno Blast” (episode 16) -- It was originally X-Car/Crosswise who said the name of this technique, rather than Artfire/Hot Shot. The dub changed Crosswise’s line in his dramatic shot to instead say “Those mountains are gonna slow us down! I’m goin’ around them!”* Hot Shot also gives the command of “Energize!”, to which the others respond with “Roger!” -- This moment was silent in Car Robots

Vehicle Mode activating camouflage (dub-original term)* No term (episode 4) -- This was supposed to have been “Stealth Mode”, but the line was spoken for his robot-to-vehicle transformation that occurred immediately before activating his camouflage.

Vehicle Mode deactivating camouflage (dub-original term)* “Hot Shot, Transform!” (episode 9) -- This was spoken as he deactivated his camouflage before he started transforming to robot mode.

Vehicle Mode energy generating (“Art Go”)* “Let’s do it!” (episode 9)* “Inferno Blast activated! Pedal to the metal, guys! That lava’s right behind us and we gotta cut this ditch all the way to the ocean!” (episode 16)

City Mode name (“Cybertron City”)* It was called “Fortress Maximus” in all of its modes.

City Mode activation(Black Convoy yelled “Plasma, Head On!” -- episode 33)(Black Convoy said that the Head On System would activate regardless of if it were by a human or not. -- episode 34)(Kenta beckoned Cybertron City to activate and to listen to him like it did for Yūkī, sayingthat the Destrongers are unforgivable for all of the evil things they've done. -- episode 36)(Plasma noted that he could feel the purity of a Cybertron’s righteous heart flowing out. -- episode 37)* Scourge ordered “Fortress Maximus, Emissary Activation Protocol!” (episode 33)* Scourge ordered “Fortress Maximus! Activate all systems! Send forth Cerebros and the Emissary!” (episode 34)* Karl beckoned with his inner thoughts “I know you did it when Koji gave the command. Oh, please, please respond!” “These are bad guys! They tried to kidnap Koji! They did kidnap me! We can’t just let them get away with it!” (episode 36)* Cerebros said “The strength…of his courage… His willingness…to sacrifice himself to protect the Earth… I must initiate Headmaster Protocol… I must activate Fortress Maximus.” (episode 37)* No term (episode 38)

"When there's gold feathers, punch behind you!!"“Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”-- C.S. Lewis

Devil Gigatron’s Car and Hydrofoil Modes are called “Devilformula” and “Devilcruiser”, respectively. He never used his Car Mode, and his Hydrofoil Mode was only seen once in which he was already in that form, transforming out of it.

Griffin Mode double-ended blade weapon creating a gravity vortex of energy rain (no term in the original)* “You’re the ones who should give up!” (episode 38)* “You are powerless to stop me! Soon the Earth will belong to me, and then the entire universe! Hoohahahahahahahahahahaaaa!” (episode 39)

Griffin Mode double-ended blade weapon increasing its energy ray’s power (no term in the original)* “I, Galvatron, will rule the universe, and there is nothing you and your friends can do about it!” (episode 39)* Sky-Byte refers to this as an Energy-Depletion Beam (episode 39)* “I’ll take care of that coward later, but first I’ll deal with all of you!” (episode 39)

Griffin Mode recalling the Cyber-bats(Just a simple recall command meaning “Return to me, Nanobats!” in Japanese)* “So I’ll have you as the entrée! And they’ll be the dessert! What an excellent idea!” (episode 39)

"When there's gold feathers, punch behind you!!"“Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”-- C.S. Lewis